Healthy Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins made without flour or refined sugar. These lightly sweetened muffins are lower in sugar and fat and have a warmly apple cinnamon flavor.

Sometimes the simplest recipes are the ones I end up repeating, and this is definitely the case for these healthy oatmeal applesauce muffins.

They are made with all wholesome ingredients, are gluten-free, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free. 

The primary flavors that shine through in these healthy muffins is cinnamon with the slightest apple flavor. 

If you are going for a bigger apple flavor, I recommend peeling and chopping one large apple and mixing it into the batter.

While the subtle flavor of the muffins doesn’t smack your taste buds silly, I happen to love the warm display of simple fall flavors on parade.

These healthier muffins are sweetened using unsweetened applesauce and pure maple syrup for a lower sugar baked good. 

Let’s discuss the healthy ingredients involved in the making of this applesauce muffin recipe.

Ingredients for Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins:

Quick Cooking Oats: Taking the place of all-purpose flour, we blend oats into a flour in the blender or food processor. Quick oats, instant oats, rolled oats, and old-fashioned oats all work.

I like using quick oats for a light texture. If you’re trying to make gluten-free applesauce muffins, be sure to use certified gluten-free oats. I use gluten-free sprouted oats.

Unsweetened Applesauce: The reason we’re all here! Apple sauce is a great ingredient to use in baking because it adds moisture and natural sweetness without the need for added fat or excess sugar.

I use store-bought applesauce, but you can certainly use homemade applesauce.

Pure Maple Syrup: In order to add some sweetness to the muffins, we use a little pure maple syrup. The muffins turn out with just the right level of sweetness in my opinion. 

Eggs: Two large eggs help the muffins rise and give them a fluffy texture.

In my limited experience with vegan baking, oatmeal goods turn out very dense unless there is some form of starch added.

For this reason, I don’t recommend using an egg replacer like flax eggs unless you’re alright with experimenting and adding some form of starchy flour like tapioca flour, potato flour, etc.

Avocado Oil: Bringing healthy fats to the recipe for a moist crumb, we need a little avocado oil.

I like using avocado oil because it has a neutral flavor and contains omega-3 fatty acids.

Plus, it makes moist muffins! While vegetable oil works, I try to steer clear of it due to the omega-6 content.

Pure Vanilla Extract: A splash of vanilla extract brings a little warm flavor to the muffins.

Baking Powder: The leavening agent here, we need baking powder to help the muffins rise and ensure they hold together after baking.

Ground Cinnamon and Sea Salt: The warming essence of ground cinnamon really makes these muffins something special.

I don’t recommend skipping the cinnamon because the muffins don’t have much flavor without it. Salt enhances the sweetness and flavors of the muffins.

Recipe Customizations:

• You can replace the avocado oil with melted coconut oil, melted butter, or olive oil. If you use unsalted butter, I recommend using 5 tablespoons instead of 4.
• If you prefer your baked goods sweeter, add 1 to 4 tablespoons of coconut sugar, brown sugar or white sugar to increase the sweetness.
• Add ⅔ cup of chopped pecans or chopped walnuts for some nutty texture.
• Peel and chop one large apple and add the apple chunks to the batter. I recommend going with a sweeter apple like gala apples or envy apples rather than a tart apple like granny smith. 
• Listen, if you love chocolate, feel free to mix in ½ cup to 1 cup of chocolate chips.

Now that we’ve covered the basic ingredients list, let’s bake a batch of muffins!

How to Make Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners. If you don’t have muffin liners on hand, you can spray the holes with cooking spray.

Transfer the oats to a blender and blend for 60 seconds, or until a flour forms.

Add the baking powder, sea salt, and ground cinnamon to the blender and blend for another 10 seconds or so, until all of the dry ingredients are well combined.

Add the eggs, unsweetened applesauce, pure maple syrup, avocado oil, and pure vanilla extract to a large bowl. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well-combined.

Transfer the oat flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix until a smooth batter forms.

Pour the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the muffin cups most of the way up. If you’d like, sprinkle the top of the muffins with oats or chopped nuts.

Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown around the edges and test clean.

A great way of ensuring muffins are baked through is taking their internal temperature using a digital thermometer. If the temperature is 190 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, they are fully baked.

Simply insert a thermometer into the center of a muffin and wait until the numbers stop moving to get an accurate read.

Allow the applesauce oat muffins to cool completely to room temperature before peeling off a muffin liner to eat one. If the muffins are still warm when you peel off the papers, you will lose some muffin to the paper. 

How to Store Muffins:

Store these simple applesauce muffins in an airtight container or a zip lock bag in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze muffins in a freezer bag for up to 3 months for longer storage. When you want to reheat a frozen muffin, microwave one on a plate for 20 to 30 seconds.

I like enjoying the muffins warm with a pat of butter, apple butter, or a smear of peanut butter or almond butter.

And that’s it! A delicious gluten free muffin recipe with simple ingredients that is worthy of keeping on constant rotation.

Make a double batch of these delicious muffins to have them on hand throughout the week for a healthy snack or a quick breakfast. 

These moist applesauce muffins are one of those easy recipes you’ll feel great enjoying on a regular basis without any guilt.

If you enjoy healthy muffins, also try out these reader favorites.

More Healthy Muffin Recipes:

• Chocolate Chip Banana Baked Oatmeal Muffins  
• Healthy Oatmeal Carrot Muffins  
• Almond Flour Pumpkin Muffins  
• Healthy Oatmeal Chocolate Banana Muffins  
• Blueberry Almond Flour Muffins  
• Healthy Double Chocolate Sweet Potato Muffins  
• Healthy Apple Muffins  

The next time you find yourself craving some wholesome muffins, whip up a batch of these healthy applesauce muffins.

Healthy Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

5 from 3 votes

This wholesome muffin recipe is made with oats instead of flour and is lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup. Moist, fluffy, dairy-free, and refined sugar-free, these muffins are the perfect light treat.

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Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 22 minutes minutes

Total Time 32 minutes minutes

Servings: 9 Muffins

Equipment

• Muffin Tin

Ingredients

• 2 cups quick oats
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
• 4 Tbsp avocado oil
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a muffin tin with 9 paper liners. If you don’t have muffin liners on hand, you can spray the holes with cooking spray.
• Transfer the oats to a blender and blend for 60 seconds, or until a flour forms.
• Add the baking powder, sea salt, and ground cinnamon to the blender and blend for another 10 seconds or so, until all of the dry ingredients are well combined.
• Add the eggs, unsweetened applesauce, pure maple syrup, avocado oil, and pure vanilla extract to a large bowl. Whisk until the wet ingredients are well-combined.
• Transfer the oat flour mixture to the mixing bowl with the wet ingredients. Mix until a smooth batter forms.
• Pour the muffin batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling the muffin cups most of the way up. If you’d like, sprinkle the top of the muffins with oats or chopped nuts.
• Bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown around the edges and test clean.
• A great way of ensuring muffins are baked through is taking their internal temperature using a digital thermometer. If the temperature is 190 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, they are fully baked. Simply insert a thermometer into the center of a muffin and wait until the numbers stop moving to get an accurate read.
• Allow the applesauce oat muffins to cool completely to room temperature before peeling off a muffin liner to eat one. If the muffins are still warm when you peel off the papers, you will lose some muffin to the paper.

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Nutrition

Serving: 1Muffin (of 9) · Calories: 181kcal · Carbohydrates: 23g · Protein: 4g · Fat: 9g · Saturated Fat: 1g · Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g · Monounsaturated Fat: 5g · Cholesterol: 41mg · Sodium: 385mg · Fiber: 3g · Sugar: 10g

Author: Julia Mueller

Course: Breakfast, Muffins

Cuisine: American

Keyword: breakfast recipes, gluten free muffins, gluten-free muffin recipes, healthy muffin recipes, healthy snack recipes, oatmeal applesauce muffins, oatmeal recipes

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